Would-be Caribbean budget carrier REDjet is out to shake up the Caribbean’s intra-island aviation industry.
Chief Executive Officer Ian Burns reiterated his mission to set up flights between any Caribbean towns for $50, including taxes. He said some of the problem with high air taxes was that small countries in a small region were trying to be like big countries.
“We cannot aspire (to that. European budget carrier) Ryanair gave people what they wanted and made money. We need to change the focus,” he told delegates at the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s State of the Industry Conference at St. Maarten. In an impassioned presentation, Mr. Burns said it was essential the consumer came first, but there were vested interests including governments, employees and unions, suppliers, management and the business community often standing in the way. In fact, a major hurdle to making travel work was the airlines themselves.
The biggest hurdle of all, he continued, were national governments and ministers, with issues of protectionism, high taxes, outdated air services agreements, regulation and monopolisation. These vested interests and protectionism were stopping a Caribbean open skies agreement, making affordable travel unlikely.
“I believe that the consumer is the driving force and that there is an unfulfilled demand … I fight Caribbean Airlines and LIAT protectionism every day on behalf of consumers. Why is RedJet the enemy? We can bring more people on bigger planes. It is about cooperation and that is what CARICOM is all about,” Mr. Burns said.
Another speaker was Brian Challenger of Eastern Caribbean carrier, LIAT, which services 950,000 passengers annually. He said there was a lack of economies of scale in a high-cost region with high operating costs. The Caribbean is a small and fragmented market with a high vulnerability to natural disasters and while a one-CARICOM Aviation Authority was often mooted, he was sceptical as to whether it could happen.
Mr. Burns said every airline had to adhere to the same regulations, but where a competitive advantage existed for REDjet as a start-up was that they had cut ‘frills’ and depended on e-commerce.
He said starting a business during a recession meant it was possible to lock in low costs and pass the savings on to the customer.
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